I have so many fun toys and gadgets, there’s no shortage of things to do! But some of their favorites seem to be the simplest. Today was no exception! They saw my big bag of paint sample strips and got right to work with scissors and hole punches.

What You’ll Need:

What to Do:

We came up with lots of fun ways to use the supplies. Here were some of our favorites:

1 || Punch out circles or other shapes from the colorful paper. Write the child’s name on a piece of paper and have him cover the lines of the letters with the punched out shapes.

2 || Punch out a variety of shapes from different colored paint samples. Have the child sort the punches by shape or color.

3 || Punch shapes out of paint samples and then have the child try to match them back into the correct spaces on the paint sample strip. This can be a great challenge because some of the colors can be very similar! The child really has to look closely to get the right match!

4 || Practice cutting on the lines in between the different colors on the paint samples.

5 || Write the letters of the child’s name with one letter in each square of the paint sample. Cut on the lines and mix up the letters. Have kids try to put their names back in the right sequence.

6 || Write basic math facts (one number/symbol in each square) and then cut off the square with the answer. Have kids match the answers with the correct math fact.

7 || Glue the punched out shapes onto paper to make a mosaic or design.

Claire Heffron is co-author at The Inspired Treehouse and a pediatric occupational therapist in a preschool/primary school setting. She began her career with a bachelor's degree in magazine journalism but quickly changed course to pursue graduate studies in occupational therapy. She has been practicing therapy for 10 years in public and specialized preschool/primary school settings. She is a mom to three funny, noisy boys and relies on yoga, good food, and time outside to bring her back to center.